A programmable logic device is an electrical circuit having hardware logic elements, also known as programmable logic, that may be configured by loading application-specific configuration data into configuration storage in the programmable logic device. The configuration data may configure the logic elements so that they perform functionality defined by the configuration data. The configuration data for a programmable logic device may carry critical information that is encrypted to protect the critical information from unauthorized access. The configuration data may configure the programmable logic of the programmable logic device to decrypt the encrypted critical information, so that the critical information may be further processed.